Venango Republic to Switch to Hunger Games Story Line After Outhouse Backlash
It just makes sense to go with a less offensive concept like kids brutally killing each other for community entertainment. Sure, we didn't stop to think that the implication of City Hall being an outhouse might be taken literally by outsiders. But given Venango's long history of driving its population away, it makes sense that outsiders might think that our mayor does city business while doing his business.
The author of the Venango Republic has spoken countless times about Oil City's positive attributes when he posts vlogs to his personal page. He notes the businesses that have opened, events that took place throughout 2025, and the effort the real mayor puts in to be present and serving at the city events. The Venango Republic is obviously a fictional universe with a mayor that does NOT exist. Somehow, that seems to be forgotten when people see us portraying City Hall in town square as an outhouse....
I guess it is relatable to something they have seen before????
No matter how transparent you are about your hope for a community to thrive and the appreciation for what is going on, it's just not possible to apply obvious absurdity to something people love without somebody suggesting you are an offense.
Hey town square defense person. How does the outhouse compete with Family Guy cracking jokes about 9/11? Genuine question, outhouse hater....
If you want to take pride in your town, take pride in your town. This website hasn't ripped on 30 years of decline in several weeks because we're trying to expand beyond that cliché. We actually like the people here and appreciate the positivity existing in those who love the town, but who can also take a joke.
Additionally, just like people in Oil City taking pride in their town, we take pride in our humor. All 14 fictional staff members making up our organization are not only good at creating absurdity. We know how to tell when something is worth taking offense at. For instance, this picture of a goat robbing a bank was worth taking a fence at....
The initial comment that sparked this discussion was not necessarily from one taking offense. The first commenter asked why we had the Exchange (business occupying old bank building) in the background of the outhouse.
We would like to emphasize that the focus of our fictional City Hall is the outhouse and not whatever lies in the background. This is evident by the fact that it is in the background and not the thing being talked about.
Gees! Would you be happier if we just leveled the building and pretended the business didn't exist? How flattering for Oil City to have no infrastructure at all in our universe. Let’s just paint it as if we are a corn field.
Would it be more suitable to pick a part of the street that puts a different business you love in the background? We can try that...
Nope! Our author loves to do karaoke and doesn't want to ruin potential membership with the Elks....
Nope! While we could sarcastically say "screw these businesses" to make a finer point, we also recognize that there's a lawyer's office hiding in the center of those buildings. We're not going to get sued.
No business. But it makes Oil City look like the ghetto. So..... Nah!
Old bank building it is then. It's ok! The Exchange is covered by the outhouse.
All you see is a promotion for the bank that isn't in business anymore. You know, the bank we can no longer afford. But hey, maybe you're right. Maybe we should ditch the outhouse and make a hunger games themed storyline. They did it for the America's and nobody took offense!
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